Posts Tagged ‘storage tips’

Welcome to college! Here is the key to your teeny tiny dorm room. Good luck fitting all of your stuff in there!

Dorm rooms are notoriously small. Plus, you’re sharing the space with someone else. It’s time to get creative with storage and organization. The key? Think vertically!

CLOSET SPACE- Chances are your closet is narrow and shallow. Try adding another rod for hanging clothes! You can find versions that hang on your current closet rod and double your hanging space. A hanging shoe rack is another great way to utilize closet space. Your rod doubler can allow you more space for a hanging rack, or you can find one that hangs on the back of your door! There are also hangers that can hang multiple shirts or pairs of pants at once.

DESK SPACE – Dorm room desks are not enormous. If there’s room, place two file drawers underneath the desk, snug to one side. Make sure you still have plenty of space to sit. If there aren’t shelves on top of your desk already, try these white magazine files from Ikea. They are inexpensive and a great way to organize papers and documents by school subject. You can also create shelf space with stacking file trays for papers. If you’re storing books on top of your desk or on shelves, bookends are a good idea. They’ll keep your books from falling over – or falling on you!

BED SPACE – That’s right, bed space! Each dorm is different, but many offer (or already have) lofted beds. If you can loft ‘em, do it. It creates a nice space for your desk underneath your bed. If you have bunk beds, use the space under your bed to store suitcases. Store your winter clothes in your suitcases during the warmer months, and vice versa during the winter.

DOOR SPACE – As mentioned previously, doors can be used for storage too, depending on your needs. Hanging shoe racks, towel racks, or hooks are awesome storage tools that make use of your door.

SPACE SPACE – You won’t have a lot of it, but where you do – think vertically! Stacking plastic drawers are ideal for dorms. You can store everything from bath stuff to school stuff to clothes stuff in these drawers. They come in a variety of sizes, so you should be able to find narrow versions or wide versions, depending on where you’d like to put them. If you have a bed on the ground (not lofted) these drawers can double as a night stand.

Photo: apartmenttherapy.com

Photo: closetorganizationtips.com

Photo: ikea.com

Finding storage space in your dorm will require a little creativity. The good news is that the tiny dorm room isn’t a new problem – students have been dealing with it forever! That’s why there are so many neat tricks and space savers out there for you. Go get ‘em! Start organizing!